U.S. military action after disaster supported by 94 percent of Japanese

Sailors assigned to the Naval Air Facility Misawa during the cleanup effort at the Misawa Fishing Port.

TOKYO (majirox news) — About 94 percent of Japanese voted in favor of the U.S. military mobilization after the country’s March 11 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, according to a telephone survey by the Yomiuri newspaper conducted jointly with the U.S. Gallup poll at the end of November.

About 75 percent of Americans supported the actions of the U.S. military as being appropriate, according to the survey.

The U.S. military sent in about 20,000 troops who transported relief supplies and searched for missing people after the disaster.

In contrast with their support for military assistance during the disaster, when asked about the overall relationship between the U.S. military and Japan, only 35 percent of Japanese said it was good (compared to 33 percent last year) while 41 percent said it was bad (compared to 40 percent last year).

The survey showed that 55 percent of Americans said the relationship was good and 8 percent said it was not good.

Meanwhile, 47 percent of Japanese trusted the United States (compared to 52 percent last year) while 42 percent did not trust the United States (37 percent last year).

The questions were given to 1,006 people in the U.S. and 1,023 in Japan.